


be still, my beating heart of stone

by altoverse



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, Possession, also that one crazy general who we see for one map and never again, enjoy???, i dont know what this is lol, i was eating when i got this idea, like ch 11?, preskip spoilers, the flame emperor is here too i guess, what if you wanted to go to heaven but god said Fuck You, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 21:31:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20767262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/altoverse/pseuds/altoverse
Summary: me, while eating a piece of pizza: hey how about an au where sothis takes over byleth's consciousness but gets corrupted in the process and immediately decides to purge the sinners in fodlan starting with the monastery*insert guess whos back meme here*hhHh college has begun again and i am Slammed with work but will i put off all of it to write about anime gods? yes





	be still, my beating heart of stone

The monastery was silent. Byleth hesitantly remained perched on the Holy Tomb’s elevated throne, seemingly unsure of whether to get up or remain seated. Far below her, Rhea sighed. “It was supposed to be just a step away… What could possibly be missing? Perhaps-” 

“Stop right there!” A voice echoed through the tomb, followed by the heavy thudding of footsteps as soldiers dressed in red marched through the entrance. At the forefront of it all was the Flame Emperor, striding toward Rhea and the students. The crazed-looking general at their side smiled wickedly, like a predator anticipating a kill. “Thank you so much for leading us here. On order of the Flame Emperor, everything in this place now belongs to the Imperial army.” He gestured to the soldiers behind him, who immediately dispersed through the tomb. “Search the graves. Take everything.” 

The Flame Emperor’s raspy voice rose above the rapid footsteps that now filled the tomb. “Do not leave a single Crest stone in this place. Take them all.” 

Rhea’s face twisted into a mask of barely concealed rage. “What are you doing? As leader of the Church of Seiros, I will not allow this sacrilege!” She turned toward the assembled students beside her. “Fight them off.” 

Dimitri paused. “Wait - is Byleth still up there?” He began to rush up the steps of the throne platform, but a tremor suddenly ran through the tomb. Then another. And another. Almost like… 

“...A heartbeat?” Dimitri murmured in confusion as he picked himself off of the ground. The Imperial soldiers had stopped looting the graves as well, staring at the throne platform in confusion. It was now surrounded by a ball of gold light that was pulsing in time with the tremors. “Professor? What’s going on?” 

“Is it…” Rhea murmured, half to herself. “Is it working? Will she return?” As if on cue, the gold light exploded outward, momentarily blinding everyone in the tomb. 

As Dimitri’s vision returned, he saw someone descending - no, floating - down the stairs.They were dressed in blue robes, green hair suspended in midair, and adorned with heavy gold accessories. At first Dimitri thought that Byleth had vanished and been replaced with this odd stranger, but then he looked a little closer at the mystery person’s face, past the strange headdress and glowing eyes, and realized - 

“Professor?” 

The tremors grew stronger still. 

_ You. _ The voice echoed through the tomb. It sounded like Byleth’s at first, but was somehow more measured, more divine in some way. The transformed professor drifted to a stop in front of the Flame Emperor, still shocked into inaction as their bare feet made contact with the stone floor and they came to stand in front of the masked individual.  _ You have committed a grave sin against the goddess. Not even your blood will pay for this crime. _

At this, the Flame Emperor scoffed. “This is exactly why I chose to do this. I will tear down the Church and reform the -” They were cut short by the Sword of the Creator being embedded in their chest. The general at the emperor’s side immediately sprung into action, drawing his sword, but the professor didn’t even spare a glance in their direction - they merely held out their hand, and the general’s back arched very abruptly, making a nasty snapping noise. The professor hovered back into the air, sword sliding free from the now lifeless emperor’s body, and turned to face the shocked group. In the background, the Imperial soldiers rushed to escape the tomb, but they all collapsed at a twitch of the hovering professor’s fingers. 

Rhea was the first to speak. “...Mother?” 

_ Seiros, _ the hovering figure intoned.  _ I have missed you dearly. We have work to do. _

Rhea immediately sank to her knees in front of the former professor, tears in the corner of her eyes. “I have failed you, Mother… Sothis. Even now the Agarthans still live, and their supporters run rampant in this land. I have done all I could, and yet…” 

DImitri gasped, along with several other of his classmates. “The goddess of this world?” Mercedes murmured. “But how…” 

_ Do not blame yourself, my dear daughter. _ Sothis’ voice grew just a bit kinder.  _ I have lingered in this world as a spirit for far too long, seen too much evil and corruption to remain inactive any longer. Thank you for finding me a host. _

Dimitri flinched. “A host?” 

_ You heard me right, young prince of Faerghus. _ Rhea rose to her feet as Sothis drifted toward Dimitri, hand outstretched.  _ Byleth was a mere stepping stone in my returning to this world. You, however, show promise as a soldier and a general.  _ Dimitri instinctively took a step back as Sothis drifted closer, sparing a glance back at the fallen Flame Emperor and the lock of white hair that had slipped out of their helmet.  _ I will welcome you and your friends as allies, but if it comes to it I will not hesitate to cut you down…  _

Felix pushed his way to the front. “Goddess or not, what have you done with our professor? She was miles ahead of all of us, and you call her a stepping stone?” 

_ I call her that because that is what she was, _ Sothis said sternly to Felix.  _ She was born as a vessel for my spirit, and that is what she has become. Anything she achieved before this is now irrelevant. _

“You-” Felix reached for his sword, but Ingrid grabbed his arm, glancing at the Flame Emperor’s body. “If the professor couldn’t win, then how could you?” She gently tugged on his arm. “Please, Felix.” 

If Sothis noticed, she paid them no mind.  _ I will give you one chance. Join me, or perish. I have cut down many former allies to purge the evil from this world, and I will not hesitate to do it again. _ When no one made a move, she raised the Sword of the Creator over her head.  _ I will not ask twice. It seems you have made your decision. _

Sothis began to bring her arm down, eyes flaring in anger, but suddenly stopped mid-swing and collapsed to the ground. The heartbeat-like tremors stopped, and Byleth looked up at her students once more, face beaded with sweat. 

“Run.” She whispered through gritted teeth. “She wants to kill you all. I won’t let her.” 

Dimitri gestured for his friends to run to the exit, but paused and reached out towards her. “Professor-” 

Byleth lowered her head and let out a heavy breath. “I can’t keep her out forever. Just go. Please. I don’t want to see you die, I-” Her body jerked and rose back up into the air, sword falling to the ground with a clatter. She faltered in the air, the tremors in the tomb resuming irregularly. 

Rhea picked up the fallen Sword of the Creator and looked at Dimitri, but said nothing as he mounted his horse and galloped toward the exit. She did not stop him from escaping, and the entrance to the Holy Tomb crumbled as he exited, Sothis’s scream of frustration echoing in his ears long after he had left the subterranean tomb behind. 

**Author's Note:**

> also not beta read. have my 1 hour word vomit  
will this continue? yes but probably no  
@altoverse_ on twitter if you wanna yell at me


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